Blair also went along with the ban on fox-hunting while encouraging the growth of casinos as a means of urban regeneration – God help us – in places like Blackpool, which really don't need that sort of help and in the end, didn't get it – Salford did, poor souls.

Other hunting news: the Countryside Alliance, which mostly exists to restore fox-hunting with dogs to legality, must have thought its day had come with the arrival of David Cameron in 10 Downing St. But soundings in the House of Commons indicate that they will have to wait a few years more: the new intake of Tory MPs is not nearly as keen on blood sports as the old guard.

"England banned fox-hunting, Spain is banning the bullfight, and the lesson is that pastimes involving cruelty belong in the past, as they are games of shame that spotlight callousness more than skill," says Syed Rizvi , a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.